An acceleration pedal and the like is provided on a dashboard lower section (dashboard lower panel) separating an engine room from a cabin (vehicle chamber). The dashboard lower section is a component simply separating the engine room from the cabin. Therefore, the dashboard lower section is often made of a thin plate in order to reduce the weight of the dashboard lower section. In such a case, it is difficult to support the acceleration pedal with only the dashboard lower section. As a result, the acceleration pedal is attached to the dashboard lower section via an acceleration pedal bracket.
Here, the acceleration pedal bracket needs an adequate amount of supporting rigidity. Various configurations have been suggested to efficiently enhance the supporting rigidity.
For example, an acceleration pedal stopper is placed between a brake pedal bracket and the acceleration pedal bracket. The acceleration pedal bracket is provided below the brake pedal bracket. An upper bent end part of the acceleration pedal stopper is fixed to a wide-width flange of the brake pedal bracket. Meanwhile, a lower bent end part of the acceleration pedal stopper is fixed to an upper surface of the acceleration pedal bracket. (See, for example, Japanese Unexamined Utility Model Application, First Publication No. H5-24471 (hereinafter referred to as “Patent Document 1”).)
According to Patent Document 1, the acceleration pedal stopper is placed between the brake pedal bracket and the acceleration pedal bracket. Each of the ends of the acceleration pedal stopper is respectively fixed to both pedal brackets. The brake pedal bracket is fixed tightly to a vehicle body. Meanwhile, the acceleration pedal bracket is supported via the acceleration pedal stopper. As a result, the rigidity of the acceleration pedal bracket increases. Furthermore, the rigidity of the acceleration pedal stopper also increases as well.
However, according to the conventional technology described above, it is necessary to place the brake pedal bracket close to the acceleration pedal bracket. Therefore, there is a problem in that the freedom in design decreases.